Lakeland Man Charged in Home Burglary

Monday

Aug 4, 2014 at 11:12 AM

LAKELAND | A 36-year-old Lakeland man is facing burglary and grand theft charges after police say he stole a wallet out of a house on Jonila Avenue.

THE LEDGER

LAKELAND | A 36-year-old Lakeland man is facing burglary and grand theft charges after police say he stole a wallet out of a house on Jonila Avenue.Carl Stewart Jr. of 715 W. Magnolia St. in Lakeland, was arrested Sunday after a search involving several Lakeland police officers and a K-9, police said.Just after 6 a.m. on Sunday, James Altman woke up to his dog barking and saw a tall black man standing in the back yard of his house in the 2600 block of Jonila Avenue, an arrest report states.Altman told police he tapped on a back door in an attempt to scare the man away, but instead, the man walked up to the house and broke a kitchen window. Altman and his wife then called police and locked themselves in a bathroom, the report states.The only thing missing from Altman’s house was a wallet, valued at about $141, the report states. A police K-9 tracked the man’s scent to the Common Ground Park on Edgewood Drive, where the wallet was found. Police said $40 was missing from it.Police said the description of the man matched that of Stewart, who is a known burglary suspect in that area. Altman then positively identified Stewart as the man outside his house, police said.Stewart is being held in the Polk County Jail until his first court appearance this afternoon.